PAGE 10 ▼ Q-Notes T May 29. 1999
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Gay men’s health summit planned
by Kirk Read
Special to Q-Notes
BOULDER, CO—-Several hundred activ
ists and health professionals are expected to
gather for a Gay Men’s Health Summit over
the weekend of July 29 - August 1 to launch an
ambitious multi-issue, multicultural gay men’s
health movement.
“The summit will tackle many of the diffi
cult questions facing our communities, not only
about HIV/AIDS, but also mental health and
violence issues, other sexually-transmitted dis
eases, substance use and abuse, and the host of
issues men are facing as we enter middle and
old age,” said Summit organizer Eric Rofes,
longtime activist and author of Dry Bones
Breathe: Gay Men Creating Post-AIDS Identities
and Cultures.
Already, the summit’s attendees have proven
to be a diverse group. Some have been working
in AIDS or gay men’s health for several decades
and are interested in creating a stronger, more
visible grassroots movement among gay men
focused on a range of health concerns. Others
are drawn to this summit because they hope to
reenergize gay men to be actively engaged in
politick activism,volunteerism, community life,
and health promotion efforts.
“My hope is that this gathering will bring
together healthcare and community leaders to
share what we have learned from successes, to
better describe and prioritize the remaining
challenges, and to forge a common understand
ing that will inform a new era of constructive
activism that will enhance our communities’
health,” said Ken Mayer, professor of Medicine
and Community Health at Brown University.
Attendees will come to the conference site,
the Regal Harvest House in Boulder, from dif
ferent locations, cultures, generations and pro
fessions, but share common concerns about
improving gay men’s health and wellness. One
particular concern of the summit is to ensure
the involvement of gay men under 35, espe
cially around such hot-button issues as circuit
parties, barebacking and recreational drug use.
Mark Beyer, Men’s Prevention Coordinator
at the Boulder County AIDS Project, is a 28-
year-old who characterizes the summit as ur
gently needed to broaden the scope of gay men’s
health considerations. “For years, the only
health issue I felt concerned with and connected
to was HIV/AIDS; there were prevention cam
paigns directed at me — a gay man. Where
would I get information pertinent to other
health issues I faced as a gay man?”
To begin answering this question, the sum
mit will include speakers, panels, workshops
and organizing meetings on a range of topics
including:
• health promotion for gay men of color;
• substance use and abuse;
• the implications that gender and mascu
linity have on gay men’s health;
• health issues facing older men: prostate
cancer, heart disease, lung cancer;
• the politics and health issues emerging
from circuit parties;
• making young gay men into health advo
cates;
• model gay men’s health projects;
• changes in gay cultures in response to the
increasing centrality of cyberspace;
• sex debates in gay male communities and
community health implications;
• the politics and health issues emerging
from barebacking;
• a new generation of HIV prevention for
gay men;
• rural gay men’s health needs;
• tensions between various gay generations;
• mental health issues facing gay men of all
colors;
• activism focused on gay men’s sexual health
and access to technologies.
The summit is a humble, grassroots orga
nizing effort with ambitious aims. There are
no corporate sponsors or large organizations
leading the effort. It is being organized by con
cerned men and women in various parts of the
country who are handling logistics, program
planning, publicity and housing. All people
motivated to improve the well-being of gay male
communities are welcomed to participate in
both the conference and its planning.
Alan Brown of New Haven, CT is the presi
dent of the Electric Dreams Foundation, a new
non-profit group that promotes safer partying.
His close interaction with circuit party culture
has convinced him that thoughtful strategy
about gay men’s health is urgently needed to
counteract the fear and blame that character
izes controversial debates in gay male culture.
“I think that a lot is at stake now for gay men.
We can and must actively manage our way to a
healthier place. We need the best minds, hon
est and open dialogue, and lots of energy and
imagination to reinvent the whole idea of
health. The Boulder Summit is a line in the
sand. No one is going to do it for us.”
For summit registration and housing infor
mation, download materials from the Boulder
County AIDS Project web site at
www.bcap.org; phone: Mark Beyer at (303)
444-6121; email: summit@bcap.org. For more
information on programming and workshops,
phone Eric Rofes at (415) 255-6210 or email
eerofes@aol.com. T
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